New York Governor signs daily fantasy sports bill, DraftKings and FanDuel can operate again

2 years

Back in June, on the last day of the New York Assembly’s legislative session, the state passed a bill legalizing daily fantasy sports, paving the road for the return of incumbents DraftKings and FanDuel to resume operating in the state.

The next week we sat down with DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, who explained that passing the bill was so important because it not only meant his company could resume operations in one of its most popular states, but that the bill could also serve as an indicator of similar legislation soon to be passed in other states that currently ban daily fantasy sports.

But even though the bill passed, everyone was still waiting for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to sign it into law, which he did today.

Governor Cuomo explained: “Daily fantasy sports have proven to be popular in New York, but until now have operated with no supervision and no protections for players. This legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education.”

The funding for education he mentioned is an expected $4 million yearly windfall to fund state education aid, which will come from taxing the platform.

And in terms of consumer protection, the bill will mandate that platforms must identify highly experienced players and prohibit the participation of minors.

This makes New York the eighth state (after Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia) to pass a specific law legalizing daily fantasy sports. While the industry still needs to persuade many more states to pass similar bills, it’s certainly a huge accomplishment to have New York squared away, especially before the start of the lucrative NFL season.